Beaten a coke addiction???

First I was a Dr. Pepper addict, then I became a Diet Coke addict. Im still working on the latter. But I have weaned myself off to just mornings. I can NOT do it cold turkey ! It really is like anything else (smoking etc). Started with cutting out ONE, at the time you will feel it the least. For me it was dinner. So I started drinking tea, so I would still have a caffeine hit. Once I got comfortable with that, I picked another and another etc and now Im down to just mornings primarily.

Heres the thing it did for me, it totally cuts my cravings for other sugar by about 85%!

I am completely addicted to Coke too, I cannot make a day without it! I know its just the sugar I am addicted too but I can't seem to stop. In 2007 I gave it up totally cold turkey, no diet coke or anything and after a week or 2 I really did get over it but even though I know it will work I can't give it up at the moment. I try to picture the pile of sugar and think well I wouldnt go and even eat one spoonful of sugar so why am I doing this? I try to imagine my teeth rotting and having to go to the dentist which I hate! It is true though that once you can cut sugar out you don't want any of it at all. I agree with just trying to cut it down one glass at a time and replacing it with other drinks. Good luck! x

As you can see by my name, I can relate. When I tried to cut it out, I would buy ONE can a day. That was all I was allowed to have for the day. I would figure out if I wanted it with dinner or in the morning or as a late night treat. You're still getting some caffeine and sugar but you start to think of it as a treat. That mentality helps when you feel ready to cut it back to one can every 2 days and so on. I know I would NEVER want to give up my dear friend, Pepsi completely. So I try to make it a treat rather than an all day drink.

I've never completely kicked my habit, so take this advice with a grain of salt. I start by stocking up on other drinks that are better for me and that taste good: tea, juice, crystal light, whatever you want that is better than coke. I also keep bottled water in the fridge. I'm not usually one for buying bottled water, but sometimes when it's convenient it's easier to make myself drink it. Then, I buy an off-brand coke. It doesn't taste as good, so I don't really want to drink it, but for the first few days it helps "cure" that horrible feeling of withdrawal. After about a week I start to crave water more and coke less. (For me, it's diet coke, though.) To get that carbonated drink fix, get some club soda or carbonated water.

Like I said, I've never completely kicked the habit, but that's because the last time I tried I gave up my diet completely (for unrelated reasons), and I haven't started the process this time around yet.

Good luck!

Okay,,,let me start this off by saying it is never easy to break a habit. Habits have a stronghold on us because we let them. I have been a Pepsi drinker for as long as I can remember (had horrendous habits as a kid because my mom worked and my sister and brother, 7 and 9 years older than I, babysat me and whatever they did, I wanted to do~nuff said.) I am not blaming anyone for my addiction, just sharing background info.

I have kicked the Pepsi habit numerous times, only to go back over and over. I often wondered what it was that drew me back~I learned along the way that it was not the sugar, because sugar only leaves a sour taste in your mouth once it breaks down.

I learned that it was not the caffeine, because I have gone without it without issue (I even drink decaf coffee now), but went back after a lengthy hiatus.

I have learned it is not the empty calories, which leave me feeling hungry and empty (as well as fat and frumpy).

I have learned it is not, the cool, refreshment, because drinking it only leaves me more thirsty in the end.

So....I can only surmise that the reason I go back is the HABIT!

Here is how I broke the habit:

I used to visit the gas station every morning for my morning fix (even after having a full breakfast)~~I stopped going there.

I used to put a six, eight, twelve, case or two liter in my grocery cart~~I stopped visiting those aisles and displays and left the Pepsi for others (what a self-less act!).

I used to find the fast food restaurants that served it~~I found new places to make healthy choices, because I decide not to be a slave to Pepsi.

I used to have one with me at every ball game, marching band competition, concert, etc. that I attended~~I carry water, now. It is much more convenient...less likely to spill, tumble or leak.

It's not easy to break habits~but it can be done. Do I crave a Pepsi now and again? Maybe, but I have new habits that are firmly taking hold of me and THEY ARE HARD TO BREAK, TOO!!

FORM new healthy habits and you won't have room or time to indulge in those old ones!!

Hang in there, because YOU CAN DO THIS!!